Alchemists of the Blade
by ThexNightxAngel
Summary: The bastard son of a noble studies alchemy with his half brother.... but alas i think im missing the point of the fanfic site by just writing a story
1. Chapter 1

FZZT!!! . . . . "ARGH GODDAMMIT!!! What did I do wrong!!! FUCK!" Ander screamed at the bubbly liquid sitting in a container placed in the middle the transmutation circle drawn on the wooden floor. In a fit of rage he jumped up and booted the container into the wall.

Ander Misericordee has always been quiet and reserved, tucked away from the world, nose constantly in a book. For a bastard son of a noble he was very fortunate. His father had sent Ander tutors to give him a decent education, his mother was given a decent plot of land, he was able to retain the family name and he made friends with his older half brother, Kylar, heir to the Misericordee duchy. In his 19 years of life he had only one worthwhile friend, Kylar. The brothers are near mirror images of each other with Ander resembling his father perfectly, with golden blonde hair and green eyes. Kylar also resembled his father, however, he had inherited his mother's pitch black hair and brown eyes. Having a similar build to that of their father both stand six foot three with lean muscle developed by the rigorous training was defending the borders of the kingdom from the raiders that constantly plagued the area.

Their father thought it a good idea to send the pair, a semi-trained 17 year old swordsman and the only legitimate heir/ excellent 19 year old swordsman, to the border garrison to "become men" as he put it. Having recently lost his mother, Ander had become numb to the world and constantly put himself in danger. Fortunately his brother loved him enough to save his ass every two seconds. After getting tired of this routine Kylar beat the hell out of Ander while lecturing him telling him that his mother wouldn't want him dead. Ander stopped putting himself in harm's way and took the situation seriously, becoming a swordsman that could easily rival his brother. For the next two years Ander and Kylar stayed at the garrison, Ander buried in alchemy studies in his spare time. Kylar, on the other hand, was buried in the sheets of the beds of any willing woman within an hour horse ride from the garrison on his off time.

"Five years of research and this! Why, why is this not working!?" Panting in frustration, Ander paused, tilted his head to the side and stared at the intricate emblem work that was his circle. All the triangles were in the right place, the symbols were the right ones, even the underlying geometric shapes came together perfectly. Nothing was wrong with the damned drawing; it in itself was a glorious work of art. But still, Ander had this horrible nagging feeling that something was out of place, _something obvious, _he thought, _it's always the obvious that escapes me._ When scanning the circle he thought about the chalk he used. _What was that chalk made of…? _He grabbed the chalk and crumbled it in between his fingers and tasted it. GRRR. _It's not damned chalk its granite! Fuck! Wait, why do I know what granite tastes like? _Sigh… _Never mind._

Ander rushed over to his fireplace that heated the small working area and reached for some of the charcoal. "Hot, hot, hot! Damn that burns… should have used the fire poker. Bah, never mind." He then set about his task of retracing the circle. _I need a trans-organic material for the circle to function right. More often than not, granite is a rock. Mental note rock doesn't equal organic. However charcoal was once wood, therefore it's organic enough! Hehe… Wait… did I just chuckle in my head? _After burning his hands and getting pissed at his absent-mindedness, Ander had the transmutation circle drawn in charcoal. With a celebratory arm pump, he looked at the circle again. _ARGH, I kicked the water and broke the container… damn. _Giddy with excitement Ander ran, nearly tripping, to the bucket that seemed to always be in the corner of his work area, grabbed it and ran to the creek outside his house to fill it with water.

He placed to bucket in the center of the circle and walked to the edge of the enormous drawing. _Twelve foot diameter, I would think that's excessive, but that's what I came up with. _Sigh… _What if this really doesn't work? I've spent so much time on this. I'm always locked away from the world, buried in books. I could have had a girlfriend or at least learned how to bed girls from my brother were it not for this, well maybe…. No! I know this will work, it has to! Not to mention I'm certain it would have been awkward._

Ander kneeled down to the circle cleared his mind and focused on the task at hand. Calm, cool, and now collected, Ander clapped his hands together and slammed them onto his circle nearly breaking something with the forcefulness.

FZZT!!! …… WOOSH!!! A sudden chill over took the room and the water froze and expanded so much that the bucket barely survived and most likely not hold water anymore. "HAHA! YES! IT WORKED!" He shook off the pain that the initial clapping and slamming caused, ran to remnants of the bucket filled with ice, picked it up and ran outside screaming nonsense about other people being crazy and something about his friend calling him crazy.

Running up to his friend, Kylar, Ander tripped and encountered the ground in a more intimate fashion than he liked head barely missing the bucket, but kept screaming the previous nonsense. He paused for a moment and started to speak when Kylar interrupted. "Why the fuck are you screaming at me?"

"I… um_… _this_!" _Ander blurted in between pants and held up his bucket and pointed to it_. "_Taadaa!"

"Wow, a damaged bucket, that's fantastic!" voice laced with sarcasm, "Seriously, why are you bringing me what you found on the road?"

"Ass, there's ice in the bucket and I transmuted it."

"You fucked who with what now?"

"Alchemy, clappy, flashy, water into ice! I used Alchemy to freeze water!"

"Really? Wow… so you worship the devil now?"

"What!? No you imbecile! How do you get devil worship out of what I said!? Moron, I chemically alerted water to turn into ice with alchemy. Devil worship has nothing to do with it. Besides you know I hate dealing with religion. And if I were to have asked for something from an unearthly being I'd have asked for you to be not such a fuck-tard, not something like ice. " Ander grinned. "Now go get another bucket and meet me at my house."

"Ander, you're an asshole. Before we go see you're magical "transmutation" tell me one thing. My bucket won't get as fucked up as yours, will it?" Kylar laughed at his friend's anger laced glare. "Well when we prove your loony will you at least quit yelling?"

After another pissing match this time involving the words yelling, crazy, magical, pain in the ass, and fucked bucket the not gay friends punched the shit out of each other and then walked to Ander's house, deciding to steal someone else's bucket on the way.

Kylar whistled "Dude you are totally obsessed, have you consulted a therapist?" After looking around the garage, obsession was putting it light. There were diagrams, charts, books, etc all over the large space each concerning some aspect of alchemy ... Not to mention the giant transmutation circle in the center of the room_._

"Hahaha, Fuck you. Now shut up and watch." Ander placed the bright green stolen bucket in the center of the circle clapped his hands and this time set them on the circle's edge instead of trying to break his wrist on the wood again_._

FZZT!!! …. WOOSH! The same cold chill swept across the room as before and the ugly bucket bursts apart. Both had to dodge falling metal. "…………." Kylar could only stare. "Ander… you… broke the bucket! AGAIN! What's wrong with you!?"

"What!? You Fuck-tard, it was water and is now ice! You watched all of it. I…. you…. ARGH!!!" Ander was ready to strangle Kylar and was about to, when Kylar spoke.

"That really was water wasn't it?" He sat there in a daze. "Amazing, Can… can alchemy do more?"

A wicked grin came across Ander's face "So you finally understand. But of course it can do more but not this circle, it's only for freezing water."

"Sensei, teach me!" Kylar bowed touching his head to the ground_._

"Ass, stop acting like an idiot" Ander then proceeded to curb stomped Kylar's head_._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_The royal guard… really? Damn, when the king wants someone caught he doesn't waste time._ Ander couldn't help but wonder what crimes they possibly could have committed to deserve the royal guard. Kylar and Ander had been captured in the middle of the night after fleeing patrols for at least two months. The worst thing they had done was transmute massive amounts of gold for the poor to be able to live comfortably and be able to pay the increasing taxes. Sigh… _good deeds never go unpunished I guess._

In shackles, the brothers were dragged to the castle by none other than the most brutal, high-and-mighty, low-lives that made up the king's royal guard. They were a pathetic group of want-to-be swordsman thugs, who wouldn't know their ass from a hole in the ground, or so Kylar seemed to taunt them with the entire trip, which was about a four day ride. "You low-life sons of whores don't you have young maidens to rape instead of imprisoning those who are improving this god forsaken hell hole of a kingdom. Have you no decency? Come on let us go. We can be on our way and you can go back to fornicating with your sisters." That comment got Kylar a punch in the face.

"Hey that was uncalled for, his face is the only thing he has working for him!" Ander shouted, and then got punched in the face too.

"Both of you shut it! I'm tired of you two talking. One more word out of either of you and I'm getting a gag for the two of you. When we reach the king, you will keep a respectful tongue in your head or I'll cut it out of your mouth…. Why didn't I think of gags sooner?" The lead knight didn't seem to like the pair.

"Probably because I reminded you of your sister. But, kind sir, not ever man enjoys the kinky things you do with your sister. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't provide a gag." The knight turned around and shoved a gag into Kylar's mouth. Through the gag Kylar got out "O uck urself!"

Sigh… _you're making things worse damn it._ "Kylar, how are we to get out of this?" Ander asked his brother.

"Ust ollow I lead." The older brother blurted through the gag.

Through the newly provided gag, Ander got out. "Yer a bastar."

"No you are the bastard!" the head knight burst out laughing.

Ander turned to Kylar "I et to kill im."

In the throne room the two brothers stood before the king, bound in chains and gagged. Both glared at the gluttonous pig of a king, contempt oozing from their stare. _Just sits here all bloody day, stuffing his face and growing fatter while his people starve. What a wonderful king._ Ander could barely contain his outrage at the sight of the pig. In front of the king sat a massive table; one usually found in a Grand Hall for celebrations and the like, covered with golden platter after golden platter of food. Barely stopping to eat the king shouted "Ah, how splendid! Our guests have arrived. Would you like refreshments my dear Duke-in-Waiting? It's been too long since your father's last visit. Is the damned fool still obsessing over 'missing gods'? "

"Uck ou, ousy fat bastar!" Kylar's muffled shout seemed to confuse the king.

"Guards, remove their gags, taunting them isn't as fun if one can't understand their retorts." The king said dispassionately.

Once free of his gag, Kylar began to rant. "You lousy son of a bitch! You should have been swallowed at birth instead of being allowed to succeed the throne! I cannot believe that with such a wonderful predecessor, you are able to rule in such a pompous, tyrannical, and avaricious manner! How can you sit on your fat arse all damned day and do nothing to help those poor peasants that you tax so heavily!" _Here we go again. _At this point Ander begins to fall asleep. "And how dare you insult Father! My father is a far better ruler than you could ever hope to be. Now release me so I can kill you!" The head knight punches Kylar in the stomach dropping him to his knees.

"Now, now, that wasn't necessary. I'm certain he didn't mean it. Isn't that right, Duke-to-be Misericordee?"

"To hell with you!" Kylar gets kicked in the face by the knight.

"Misericordee its best you apologize before I lose my temper. I'm a forgiving man and I'm certain I can over look your slip of manners just this once. I need you and your bastard brother." Ander snaps awake at the word 'bastard' and begins glaring again. "Not even my court magicians can create gold, yet the two of you seem to do it with ease and give it away! I'm your king, you serve me; I command you to make gold for me! Tons of the glittering, glorious metal! Oh, it will be wonderful! With such riches I can finance a war to make me the king of this continent! I'll be able to expand my borders from sea to sea! Can you see it Kylar? You'll be Duke to a far larger duchy if you help me achieve my ambitions!" Ander begins to growl. "Oh, and I could make the bastard a Baron or something." The king was so excited he was panting and sweating at the thought of conquest.

"Burn in hell, you greedy pig!" Kylar shouted.

"Tisk, tisk, Kylar, such a rude tongue might get cut out of your head." The king stated angrily.

Kylar smiled. "My flippant tongue seems to get me in a lot of trouble, but fortunately, your daughter enjoys my tongue ever so much. Suffice to say my tongue gets me in and out of many things."

Red faced with anger the king yells "KILL THEM!"

"Gladly" the head knight grinned as he pulled his sword from his scabbard. As he thrust the sword at Ander's stomach, Ander takes a fighting stance, pivots his upper body, catching the blade along his stomach and inner upper arm, between the shoulder and elbow. He then delivers a kick to the knight's armpit to have him let go of the sword and then Ander kicks the knight in the throat, crushing his wind pipe. To Ander's right Kylar stood unchained and armed with 2 swords with 5 dead before him.

"What took so long?" Kylar chuckled. "Father warned you about getting fancy. Remember dead is dead even without the flips, jumps, and colorful counter kills!"

"So says the one who's already managed to get his manacles off! How the hell did you do that anyway?"

"Well, while you were asleep, I was picking the lock."

"With what? They took all our tools!"

Kylar reveals a hair pin. "A parting gift from a princess. Works rather well for lock picking, actually."

"So you weren't lying about his daughter were you?"

"A true nobleman never kisses and tells"

"You're a dog, I hope you know."

"Terribly so, I know."

"Um… where's the king?"

"He's cowering in the corner over there. Where else would he be?" Kylar walks over to the coward. "Stand and defend what little honor you've left to your name!"

"Please! Don't kill me; I'll give you anything you want! Just don't hurt me!" the king begged.

"Come on now! Be a real king for once in your life and defend yourself!"

The king awkwardly got to his feet and stumbled into Kylar's extended blade, cutting his own throat by accident. "Pitiful, even in death." Kylar sighed. "Well, I believe its best we flee this place before the rest of the guards have realized what's happened." He turns and runs out the main entrance.

"Arse, leaves me to get our supplies." Ander quickly loots the possessions taken from them when they were first captured back from their captors. "Kylar! KYLAR! Where the hell did you go!?" Ander shouts as he runs out the main gate. In the distance, Kylar gallops off on a horse. "Where'd he get the horse?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rain, heavy pounding, unrelenting, rain. And two weeks of it.

_Why has it been raining for so damned long?_ "Kylar have you gotten us lost again!?" Ander whined as they trudged along walking their horses to reduce fatigue.

"Ha, I know exactly where we are, my dearest baby brother." Kylar stated whimsically.

"And where might that be, my beloved older brother?"

"Here. We are here. Well to be more precise, I am here and you are there." Kylar pointed to where his brother stood and grinned.

Ander remained silent for a few seconds. Then he lunged at his annoying brother. "I will kill you! You've lost us again!" Ander tackled Kylar and started to punch him. "This is the last time let you lead the way. Father's duchy is to the north and we are headed east you arse!"

"You're spooking the horses, Ander."

"I don't care." He shouted as he repeatedly slammed Kylar onto the ground.

"Do you wish to walk the whole way to Father's duchy?"

Sigh… "Good point."

"Now get off of me."Ander punched his brother once more for good measure, stood up and helped his brother to his feet. "It would be best to set up camp for the night."

"Agreed." And Ander commenced to draw a transmutation circle. "I would like to show you the rock hut I've developed recently. Tis a rather exquisite work of alchemy. No leaks, no structural problems, just a round dome of sheltering rock. Not to mention the simple circle that can create it." As Ander recently discovered, there were more and more easier ways to transmute objects. Instead of needed a twelve foot circle to freeze a bucket of water, he found that this was absolutely redundant. The simple task barely need any of the numerous and ornate symbols, crucibles and bracings that were used in his first transmutation. Having finished the circle, he quickly clapped his hands together and FZZT!!! …… WOOSH!!! "Here is our magnificent new abode for this rainy night!"

Kylar applauded, "I must say, you are improving dear brother. One question however. WHY IS IT THAT WE'VE SLEPT IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN RAIN FOR NIGH TWO WEEKS AND YOU'VE NOTHING TO SAY OF THIS BEFORE TONIGHT?!"

"Um… I forgot?"

"Thank the god tonight that you are my brother, for if not… I would have hung you long ago." Ander laughed heartily at this. Kylar sighed and set about making a fire to fend off the chill. "Dearest brother, could you be so kind as to make a spit out of rock to dry our clothes? I've no desire to catch a chill tonight, so dry clothes are essential."

"Whatever." Ander transmuted a spit, stripped down, and laid his clothes over the fire. "I think I'm off to sleep." And walked over to a now dry spot and plopped down on the ground. "We forgot blankets when we bought the supplies. I'm very surprised we haven't died out here in the elements you damned fool."

"If you're cold, we could combine our body heat to stay warm."

"Piss off Kylar. I will NOT spoon with you. I'd much rather accept death's sweet embrace than accept your naked one."

Kylar laughed at this. "Where's your sense of adventure? We're brothers, nothing wrong with innocently spooning."

"I've seen you when you dream Kylar. Tis oft that you dream of your liaisons and there is nothing _innocent_ about the physical movements you make in your sleep. I'd rather not be violated in my sleep."

"Suit yourself, if you freeze, tis not mine fault that you do. I offered you body heat."

"Argh, I cannot stand this ground is just my small clothes." In a huff he jumped up and walked over to the fire to check the progress of his drying clothes. "Ooo, they are dry _and _warm." Ander stoked the fire with more wood. "You first watch tonight, brother."

"Tis not a problem, my dear brother. I'll wake you when it's your turn."

"Okay, but this time…do so without water. I'm rather fed up with waking and being water. And you are notorious for using water to wake me to begin with."

"Ha-ha but I enjoy myself when I do so."

"That you do but please refrain from it."

"Fine… Ander?"

"Aye?"

"The rain… It's an ill omen. Never has it rained this much. Ever."

"No," Ander paused, "once it did. Twas said that there was a great flood in the land when the Old Gods left this world. Apparently, according to old lore, there was a great war between the Old Gods and three great deities. The Old Gods were banished through such a devastating effort that the three had to become one to keep from leaving existence. That being is now referred to as God. With the banishment of the Old Gods many elder races left, leaving we mere humans to the mess we created by worshipping the deities. Or so they're last message stated. Ha, makes one wonder what is fact and what is fiction. Magic was called blasphemy and soon the ancient arts were lost to humans. Some even say alchemy is magic and barely escaped the fanatics of the new religion. But I know it's a science, and an art that changes one substance to another. It's taking the molecules of a substance apart, rearranging them, and putting them back in a new form creating a new substance."

"A walking fount of information you are, Ander. Reading so very many books, no wonder you've never known the pleasures of a woman…. Old Gods huh? Hmmm. Didn't father talk of them?"

"Aye, when we were younger he did."

"I wonder how he is of late… Last I had spoken with him, he seemed distracted. Seems to me that my mother has been causing him grief that knows no end, she has been trying to run his duchy for him. Pity he married such a greedy cold woman. He loved your mother did you know? Too bad she was a commoner, twas not for that, father would have married her and become a happy man… before your mother died. Any road, goodnight Ander."

"Goodnight." Ander with held tears caught in his eyes at the mention of his mother.

In the middle of the dark, dreary, and rainy night, a commanding figure rode out of the main gates of the Misericordee castle. The man exuded a great authority and noble air. One look from this daunting figure and soldiers fall into order, thieves, beggars, and miscreants confess their crimes, and the truly wicked run. Such a humbling man could be none other than Duke Misericordee. _This rain is an extremely ill omen. I must hasten to the Temple of the North. If the Gods have become restless for their place back in this world, those blasted monks would know. If I cannot quell this foreboding omens, this world could yet again become a battlefield of the Gods._ Thoughts of the terrible devastation that is soon to follow flood the Duke's mind as he rides to the harsh Far North, a no-man's land of snow and ice. There, however, lies the last of those who protect the world's greatest secrets and few no where this temple lies. Fewer have made it there alive. Only one has ever left there alive.

Ander had been dreaming when he realized there was wetness to the ground he slept on. As coherency came back to Ander he realized that it was more like a river flowed had through the rock dome. "Kylar! This is ridiculous! I could understand a bucket of water but PRACTICE WATER ALCHEMY IN A WAY THAT DOES NOT FLOOD OUR CAMP!" Ander paused and listened _more rain, _he sighed. _Wait something tis not right._ Ander dashed out of his dome and looked around. The horses were gone and there was not the slightest inkling of Kylar in the area except there was a note pinned to Ander's rucksack which hung from the ceiling of the dome. Dearest brother Ander: I've taken most of the gear and obviously both horses. Most of the supplies are with me also but I'm certain you will manage. Last night I awoke after falling asleep at watch and pondered a dream I had had. I can travel faster without you tagging along especially with two horses. Father is in trouble and needs help. I KNOW THIS, I FEEL THIS. Catch up when you can. Sincerely, Kylar Misericordee. _Arse, I need to thrash him the next time I see him._ As Ander dismantled camp, he heard shouting in the distance.

"The river has flooded!"

"Get the sandbags! Hurry!"

"Get a move on lads! Wait any longer and the entire village with get flooded!"

_What!? We were this close to a village!_ "ARGH!" Ander sprinted to where he heard the shouting and found a massive group of men hauling sandbags in an attempt to divert flood waters. Quickly, Ander drew up a transmutation circle on a not so flooded patch of mud. Clap and FZZT!!! …… WOOSH!!! A twenty foot wall of rock appeared and diverted the river thus saving the village.

"Sorcery! Burn him at the stake!" Someone shouted from the crowd that stared in awe… as the flood waters spilled over the rock wall which then began to disintegrate and wash away.

"Damn it! Get back to work men! Move those sand bags in place!"

Ander felt depressed. In the gloom, Ander felt a great presence walk forward. Without a transmutation circle, a tall man with broad shoulders and a barrel chest who looked more like a bear in the dim light, clapped his hands and FZZT!!! …… WOOSH!!! Only the water in the river froze and a gigantic rock wall appeared. Ander was absolutely astonished. _No circle!!?? _As Ander stood there, jaw dropped, a beautiful girl close to Ander's age walked up.

"Kind sir? I believe with ones mouth gaping like that of a fish one will catch flies." She stated with a giggle.

Ander blushed and immediately snapped his jaw shut. "How cute, not only do you catch flies but you blush such a deep red! My name is Anna. You are…"

"A-A-Ander, kind maiden. M-my name is Ander Misericordee." As Ander stammered out his name, he could barely think, let alone speak. She was of such a captivating beauty and had such a presence that Ander was certain that he had fallen in love.


End file.
